Government approves clinical waste incinerator

The planning application for the incinerator was refused by the council’s planning committee in April 2023

A council said it did "all it could" to stop a healthcare waste incinerator from being built after it was overruled by the government.

Last year, Cambridgeshire County Council rejected Envar Composting's application to build an incinerator at the company's Woodhurst waste disposal site, near St Ives.

Envar appealed the decision and, after an eight-day public inquiry earlier in the year, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner has granted planning permission.

The council said at the inquiry it "robustly defended" its decision and had made a "reasonable decision" in refusing the application.

Permission for the development was granted on Monday but a request that Envar should be awarded costs against the council was not approved.

Cambridgeshire County Council's planning committee initially voted by a majority to oppose the development plans.

Opponents of the plans said they backed the council's decision as they were worried about air quality as well as the visual impact of a 26m (85ft) high chimney.

They were also concerned about the extra road movements from waste being brought in from other counties.

Ms Rayner, housing, communities and local government secretary, said in her report that, while the proposed chimney would introduce an industrial looking feature to the locality, it would not totally change the character of the local landscape.

It would be more than twice the height of any other structure on the site, but she said the chimney would appear as a slender feature and would not be overbearing.

'Serious concerns'

Henry Batchelor, chair of the county council planning committee, said: “Whilst the council always recognised that this was a finely balanced decision, with the refusal being made by five votes to four, we are nonetheless still disappointed that the new secretary of state has overturned the committee’s decision.

"We have acted openly and conscientiously in our review of the company’s application to expand the Envar site.

“The strength of public feeling and serious concerns about these proposals were clearly articulated as part of the eight-day public inquiry, and the council did all it could to defend the decision it made.”

A spokesperson from Envar said it was pleased with the outcome and added: "We will be studying the report carefully over the forthcoming days. We would like to thank all involved in the process during this period."